Ex-spy chief flies to Peru in handcuffs

Peru's most wanted fugitive, Vladimiro Montesinos, was returned to Lima from Venezuela yesterday under tight security. He faces trial on dozens of charges, including money laundering, drugs trafficking and masterminding death squad killings.

Mr Montesinos, wearing a beige jacket and jeans and in handcuffs, looked calm and even smiled briefly as he was escorted by agents in plain clothes into a helicopter shortly after arriving at Lima airport just before 10am.

He was flown to the headquarters of the special operations unit of the police, a former hacienda to the east of the capital.

This is where the police burn the drugs they seize in anti-trafficking operations. There are apparently no other prisoners being held there.

The former spy chief was detained in Venezuela on Saturday night, ending an eight-month international manhunt.

The search began when he slipped out of Peru on a yacht during the final days of Alberto Fujimori's presidency.

He is alleged to have paid money to Peru's courts, congress, media and military for a decade, and is accused of accumulating a personal fortune of at least $264m (£176m).

He is credited with running Peru's biggest corruption network from his base in the secret service.